Machine for disintegrating, mixing, and emulsifying materials



1932- J. v. WECKBAUGH ,3

MACHINE FOR DISINTEGRATING, MIXING, AND EMULSIFYING MATERIALS Filed Oct. 8, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 5, 1932. J. v. WECKBAUGH 1,839,513 MACHINE FOR DISINTEGRATING, MIXING, AND EMULSIFYING MATERIALS Filed Oct. 8. 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 for household use in Patented Jan. 5, 1932 PATENT OFFICE JOSEPH V. WECKBAUGH, OF NEW YORK,

N. Y., ASSIGNOB TO SAMUEL K. NESTER, OF

GENEVA, NEW YORK MACHINE FOR DISINTEGBATING, MIXING,

AND EMULSIFYING. MATERIALS Application filed October 8, 1926. Serial No. 140,346.

The machine of the present invention is intended primarily for use in connection with soda fountains or similar establishments where mixed drinks are dispensed, as well as the disintegrating, mixing, emulsifying, and blending of various materials used as constituents of a beverage or the like, although the use of the machine is not necessarily thus confined, since it may be used for the disintegrating, mixing, emulsifying or blending of other substances intended for food or other purposes.

The invention in the form herein shown is designed to furnish a neat,. compact, and easily operated adjunct to the equipment of a soda fountain, and the features of the invention relate particularly to the construction, configuration, and arrangement of the inlet portion of the machine into which the raw constituents intended to be commingle are introduced; to the relationing of the inlet portion with the mixing chamber into which the materials are discharged; and to the receptacle into which the commingled materials are discharged after passage between the stator and rotor elements which serve to effect the disintegration and mixing together of the constituent elements.

The machine is particularly designed to afford a convenient and satisfactory method of introducing the materials in such way as to prevent the splashing or flying back of drops or particles from below, and also to the means afforded for utilizing the air displaced from the receiving receptacle in such way as to aerate the incoming mixture and at the same time provide for a discharge of the air displaced from the receptacle, as the same is being filled bythe beverage or other liquid product of the machine.

Further objects and details will appear from a description of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings 'wherein-- Figure 1 is a front elevation of the entire machine; I

Fig. 2'is a sectional elevation through the center of the entire machine;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view taken on and prevent line 3-3 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 4 is a top view of the receptacle into which the output of the machine is discharged.

The machine as a whole is carried by an arch 10 upwardly extending from a circular base 11 which is preferably of sufficientlyponderous formation to stabilize the machine vibration thereof. The center a point of attachment of the arch furnishes is configured to afford for a casing 12 which three points of attachment, respectively, for

a motor 13, an inlet dome 14, and a discharge receptacle 15. The casing comprises an obliquely extending rear wall 16 which abuts against the forward face of the arch 10 to Flhich it may be securedby screws 17 or the oblique plane through the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 to afford a centrally disposed mixing chamber 18 which merges chamber 19, the walls 20 of which are outwardly and downwardly flared, as indicated in Fig. 2, to afford a smooth conical surface 21 which constitutes the stator wall and acts in conjunction with a downwardly and outwardly flaring rotor 22 to furnish a restricted annular space 23 between the stator and r0- tor elements through which the materials are fed and directed during the passage through the machine.

The rotor chamber is of circular cross section at every point, and such cross sectional planes lie in oblique relation to the vertical and in transverse relation to the axis of the rotor which is mounted upon an obliquely disposed shaft 24. The conical peripheral wall of the rotor presents its acting outer face to only a portion of the wall of the rotor chamber, the walls of which project both above and below the rotor, the arrangement affording a narrow or relatively restricted inlet to the rotor chamber from the point above, and an enlarged or outwardly flaring outlet below the rotor.

Referring to Fig. 3, it will be observed that the side walls 25 of the mixing chamber are rounded outwardly to afford a lateral en- This rear wall, as best shown in Fig. (1 3, is rounded forwardlyin respect to the downwardly into a rotor I. is accomplished by the film of liquid under the rate of velocity imlargement or protrusion of the mixing chamber with respect to the axial line of the shaft 24. The side walls beyond the protrusion converge forwardly and upwardly and in conjunction with the obliquely disposed top and bottom walls 26 and 27 afford an inlet throat for the materials which terminate in an upwardly opening circularmouth 28.

The shaft 24 is provided with a lower stirring pin 29 and an upper stirring pin 30, these 1 two pins, in the present instance, being in the form of transversely extending o positely disposed cotter pins, the lower ree end of the lower cotter pin being bent downwardly, and both of the free ends of the upper cotter pin being bent or spread in opposite directions. The cotter pins thus afford means for breaking up or disinte-' grating and stirring the materials introduced into the mixing chamber, and acting in conjunction with a plurality of pins 31 which extend upwardly from the upper face of the disk shaped rotor element to afford means for fully and completely stirring, breaking up, and disintegrating the materials prior to their inflow into the restricted annular space between the rotor and stator where their ultimate breaking u and disintegration lsruptive action of the two contiguous surfaces upon the thin parted to the rotor element.

The motor 13 is mounted upon the upper portion of the casing which presents an obliquely disposed supporting rim 32. Ball bearings 33 are provided to reduce friction and maintain the rotor shaft in precise alignment which is necessary in order to maintain the proper clearance between the walls of the rotor and the stator. In order to exactly position the rotor with respect to the shaft, the latter is shouldered at the point 34 which provides a. reduced spindle 35 having threads 36 near its lower end, which threads engage with threads 37 on the interior of the hub of the rotor. This permits the rotor to he slid into place until the threads engage, after which a few turns will bring the upper end of the hub into abutment with the shoulder which exactly positions the parts. By pro viding several rotors differing as to the length of hub, substitutions can be effected to secure the exact degree of clearance desired between the rotor and stator.

The upwardly opening mouth 28 affords a mounting for the inlet dome 14, the lower end 38 of which is of conical hopper formation terminating in a shouldered ring 39 'which may be slipped snugly within the mouth of the inlet throat to hold the dome in vertically upright position. The upper portion of the dome is of truly dome shape, and is cut away on one side to afford an oval shaped orifice 40 into which the materials are introduced. The orifice is so cut thatits ,tion, as in Fig; 3, will cause the upper rim will lie behind the outermost point of projection of its lower rim, and at the same time the orifice is so configured that it will lie in front of the vertical axial plane of the dome so that the top of the dome will round forwardly and dowwardly toward the rim of the orifice in such a way as to furnish an overhangin hood which will serve to deflect downwardly any materials which might be spattered or discharged upwardly when the rotor is in operation.

The inlet dome is given a configuration somewhat similar to that of a marine ventilator and is rotatable to bring'the orifice to the front or to either side as the operator may desire for convenience in operating the device. The outwardly flaring wall of the rotor chamber affords a mounting for the receptacle 15 which,-as shown, is in the form of a tapered cup provided with a flanged rim 41 whichseats against a shoulder 42 formed near the mouth of the rotor chamber, the wall being held in seated position by the action of a plurality of pins 43 which enter into bayonet slots 44 in the rim of the cup. These slots are so configured as to draw the cup forwardly into tightly sealed relation with the shouldered wall of the rotor chamber as the cup is rotated after the pins and slots are brought into registering relation.

The cup is provided through its center with an air outlet tube 45, the upper end 46 of which is flared and terminates at apoint in substantially flush relation to the under plane of the rotor. The rotor on its under surface 47 is cored out to afford an open passageway from the interior of the cup-shaped receptacle 15 up and over the flared rim of the tube 45 which permits the air to be displaced from the interior of the receptacle as the mixed product from the machine is discharged thereinto. I

The operation of the machine is as follows: The motor is set in operation and drives the rotor at an extremely high rate of speed. The receiving cup or receptacle is clamped in position and thereafter the ingredients to be commingled, mixed, emulsified, or blended, as the case may be, are introduced into the orifice in the receiving dome. It is preferred to introduce the solid or semi-solid constituents in advance of the liquid constituents so that the liquid will serve to wash down and more thoroughly commingle with the solid constituents, but, in the sense of being mixed, emulsified, or blended,the present invention is concerned with no special means for introducing the constituents into the receiving dome. The machine rotating at a high speed which we may assume is in a clockwise direcprojecting pins on the shaft and on the rotor, respectively, to cut through and almost instantly break up and disintegrate the solid maerials. This action and the peculiar configuration toward the periphery of the mixing and to establish a converging spiral line of which the walls of the mixing chamber bear to the position of the shaft and rotor will produce a highly effective action in thus breaking up and initially commingling the liquid and solid constituents.

The cotter pins 29 and 30 and the rotor pins 31 all operate in oblique planes of travel, and as the materials pass down through the throat and into the mixing chamber are subjected to the centrifugal action of the several sets of pins and to the centrifugal action of the rotor itself. Such materials will tend to be thrown chamber travel which may be represented as a spiral parabolic line converging inwardly and downwardly toward the mouth of the rotor chamber at which point the commingled materials are more particularlyacted upon by the rapidly revolving rotor pins 31, and by the suction through the rotor space induced by the centrifugal action of the rotor which causes the finely commingled and. comminuted particles to be drawn through the restricted space between the rotor and stator and there subjected to the disruptive action occasioned by the swift traversing of the rotor surface past the stator surface in extremely close proximity thereto. This affects a further tearing down and disruption of the particles and a discharge of the commingled materials in the form of a conical sheet outwardly toward thewalls of the receiving receptacle. The rapid filling up of the receptacle 15 by the incoming liquid or semi-liquid products of the machine will cause a sudden displacement of the air within the receptacle which will be forced upwardly and diverted outwardly by the flaring rim 46 of the air discharge tube which will thus establish an air current or eddy immediately under the discharged conical sheet of incoming commingled particles, which will serve to aerate such particles and give thereto a smooth or creamy consistency which, in

many cases, will greatly enhance the palatable character of the products delivered from the machine. The air will thus be ultimately discharged from the receptacle 15 in such a way that it will not interfere with the inflow of the commingled materials, but will also beneficially influence the character of the resultant product by aerating the same to a substantial degree.

By mounting the rotor on an obliquely disposed shaft so that the plane of rotation of the rotor will be in an oblique relation to the action of gravity, the inflowing stream of ingredients will tend to assume a spiral line of travel downwardly and inwardly toward the rotor, which establishment of a spiral line of travel through the mixing chamber and into the rotor space beneficially influences the action of the machine by maintaining a defi nite rather than an indeterminate line of flow for the materials, and further beneficially influences such action by progressively bringing the stream of materials into a more and more contracted space as they approach the rotor, so that the suction of the rotor developed by centrifugal action will be elfectively directed upon a stream of incoming material having a clearly defined line of flow. Furthermore, by arranging the moving parts in the oblique relation shown, the inlet dome ma tha t it will effectively guard the inlet orifice against the splashing out or spattering of liquid or centrifugal action and disintegration within the mixing chamber. The arrangement, furthermore, is one which brings the inlet dome into vertically superimposed relation to the receiving cup or receptacle so that the operator can conveniently remove the completed product from the front of the machine with the utmost ease and facility.

The machine is one which is adapted not only to commingle and deliver all forms of mixed drinks now customarily dispensed at soda fountains or elsewhere, such as egg drinks and malted drinks of various kinds, but is also adapted to produce drinks of be located in such relation to the rotor semi-liquid materials subject to the many kinds which it has not heretofore been considered feasible to make, such, for instance, as banana beverages produced by complete disintegrating of bananas with milk, chocolate, or other liquid. The machine is also designed and adapted for the extraction of all kinds of fruit or vegetable juices and combination of various fruits with liquids or semi-liquids in the production of beverage combinations, liquid extract combinations, jellies, and like purposes too numerous to mention. By suitably regulating the relation of the rotor and stator, the machine will automatically exclude all solid or gritty particles, such as seeds or the like, and produce a resultant beverage of extreme smoothness and delicacy due to the fineness of the comminuted particles admitted into the machine.

The operation of the machine is extremely rapid and well nigh instantaneous, since a cup full of the prepared beverage or other product will be delivered within a few sec onds of the time when the materials are first introduced into the machine, which enables the operator to prepare and dispense the beverages without the annoying delay which customarily attends the preparation of mixed drinks by methods at present in vogue, and enables the operator to prepare and deliver the drink at a single operation. Whatever accumulation of solid particles may remain in the mixing chamber can be quickly removed by unscrewing and removing the rotor which will then permit the accumulation of rinsed therefrom if need be.

Although the machine has been described with particularity as to detail, it is not the intention to limit the invention otherwise than as specified in the accompanying claims.

I claim: 1

1. In a machine of the class described, the combination of an obliquely disposed rotor, a stator having itsinner wall in co-acting relation with the rotor, a mixing chamber merging into an upwardly opening intake throat, and a receiving dome mounted upon the inlet throat and provided on one side with a receiving orifice for materials, substantially as described.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination of an obliquely disposed rotor, a stator having its inner wall in co-acting rela tion with the rotor, a mixing chamber merging into an upwardly opening intake throat, and a receiving dome having its lower end hopper shaped and rotatably mounted in the inlet throat and having receiving orifices formed on one side of the upper portion of 'the dome below the crest thereof, substantially as described.

3. In a machine of the class described, the combination of an obliquely disposed rotor,

- a stator having its inner wall in co-acting relation with the rotor, a mixing chamber opening toward the rotor and having one of its side walls converging inwardly and downwardly toward the axial center of the rotor, and a receptacle adapted to be held in sealed relation below the rotor and provided with an air discharge tube extending upwardly from the bottom of the receptacle and terminating below the rotor, substantially as described.

4. In a machine of the class described, the combination of an obliquely disposed rotor, a stator having its inner wall in co-acting relation with the rotor, a mixing chamber merging into an upwardly opening intake throat, and a receptacle adapted to be held in sealed relation below the rotor and provided with an air discharge tube extending upwardly from the bottom of the receptacle and terminating below the rotor, substantially as described.

5. In a machine of the class described, the combination of an obliquely disposed rotor, a stator having its inner wall In co-acting relation with the rotor, a mixin chamber merging into an upwardly openlng intake threat, a receiving dome mounted upon the inlet throat and provided on one side with a receiving orifice for materials, and a receptacle adapted to be held in sealed relation below the rotor and provided with an air discharge tube extending upwardly from the bottom of the receptacle and terminating below the rotor, substantially as described.

6. In a machine of the class described, the combination of an obliquely disposed rotor,

a stator having its inner wall in co-acting .relation with the rotor, a mixing chamber merging into an upwardly openmg intake threat, a receiving dome having its lower end hopper shaped and rotatably mounted in the inlet throat and having receiving orifices formed in one side of the upper portion of the dome below the crest thereof, and a receptacle ada ted to be held in sealed relation below the rotor and provided with an air discharge tube extending upwardly from the bottom of the receptacle and terminating below the rotor, substantially as described.

7. In a machine of the class described, the combination of an obliquely disposed rotor, a stator having its inner wall in co-acting relation with the rotor, a mixing chamber opening toward the rotor and having one of its side walls converging inwardly and downwardly toward the axial center. of the rotor, and a cup shaped receptacle adapted to be secured in position below the rotor and in axial ali nment therewith and provided with an air discharge tube upwardly extending from the bottom of the receptacle and terminating in a flaring mouth located below the axis of the rotor for diverting the contained air radially against the materials discharged around the periphery of the rotor, substantially as described.

8. In a machine of the class described, the combination of an obliquely disposed rotor, a stator having its inner wall in co-acting relation with the rotor, a mixing chambermerging into an upwardly opening intake throat, and a cup shaped receptacle adapted to be secured in position below the rotor and in axial alignment therewith and provided with an air discharge tube upwardly extending from the bottom of the receptacle and terminating in a flaring mouth located below the axis of the rotor for diverting the contained air radially against the materials discharged around the periphery of the rotor, substantially as described.

9. In a machine of the class described, the combination of an obliquely disposed rotor, a stator having its inner wall in co-acting relation with the rotor, a mixing chamber merging into an upwardly opening intake throat. a receiving dome mounted upon the inlet throat and provided on one side with a receiving orifice for materials, and a cup shaped receptacle adapted to be secured in positon below the. rotor and in axial alignment therewith and provided with an air discharge tube upwardly extending from the bottom of the receptacle and terminating in a flaring mouth located below the axis of the rotor for diverting the contained air radially against the materials discharged around the periphery of the rotor, substantially as described.

10. In a machine of the class described, the combination of an obliquely disposed rotor, a

' stator having its inner wall in co-acting relamouth located immediately beneath the rotor, tion with the rotor, a'mixing chamber mergand amounting for the stator for maintaining ing into an upwardly opening intake throat, the axis of the rotor and cup in oblique relaand a receiving dome having its lower end tion to the vertical, substantially as described.

5 hopper shaped and rotatably mounted'in the JOSEPH V. WECKBAUGH. 7

inlet throat and having receiving orifices formed in one side of the upper portion of r the dome below the crest thereof, and a cup shaped receptacle adapted to be secured in 10 position below the rotor and in axial align- 7E5 ment therewith and provided with an air discharge tube upwardly extending from the bottom of the receptacle and terminating in a flaring mouth located below the axis of the rotor for diverting the contained air 80 radially against the materials discharged around the periphery of the rotor, substantially as described.

11. In a machine of the class described, the

combination of a stator and rotor in co-acting 85 relation therewith, means for delivering materials to the rotor, and a receptacle secured to the wall of the stator in proximity to the rotor and provided with an air discharge tube extending from the bottom of the receptacle and opening below the rotor, substantially as described.

12. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a stator and a rotor in co-acting relation therewith, means for delivering i L materials to the rotor, and a receptacle secured to the wall of the stator in proximity to the rotor and rovided with an air discharge tube exten ing from the bottom of the also provided with a flaring upper end for diverting currents of contained air radially toward the peripheral discharging sheet of materials passing between the rotorand stator, substantially as described. 105

13. In a machine of the class described, the

combination of a stator provided with a diverging conical acting wall, a rotor provided with a conically diverging acting rim in proximity to .the wall of the stator, the

diverging wall of the stator extending below the rim of the rotor, and a cup shaped receptacle secured to the wall of the stator below the rotor and provided with an air discharge tube extending from the bottom of the cup 115 in axial alignment with the rotor and terminating in a flaring mouth located immediately beneath the rotor, substantially as described.

14. In a machine of the class described, the 120 combination of a stator provided with a diverging conical acting wall, a rotor provided with a conically diverging acting rim in proximity to the wall of the stator, the diverging wall of the stator extending below the rim of 125 the rotor, a cup shaped rece tacle secured to the wall of the stator below the rotor and rovided with an air discharge tube exten ing from the bottom of the cup in axial alignment with the rotor and terminating in a flaring receptacle and opening below the rotor, and 1 

